Impostor

Like Total Recall, Impostor was based on a short story by Phillip K. Dick. (Dick's stories were also the inspiration for Blade Runner and Minority Report.) In my opinion Impostor is a solid science fiction film.

The core of these stories by Dick has to do with the nature of reality and Impostor is no exception. If we have memories implanted in our minds, how can we tell what is real and what is an artificial memory? Added to this in the movie is the change in a society that comes from years of war. Can we have freedom and human rights when anyone can be a spy? This combines two great traditions in sci-fi; illusion vs. reality (Total Recall) meets taking over our minds and bodies by an alien power (Invasion of the Body Snatchers).

Add to the great story concepts is superior acting by Gary Sinise and Madeleine Stowe. The supporting cast is good with Vincent D'Onofrio playing a complex character. Is he a villain? Nothing is as it seems.

With all of these positive comments, I cannot give the film a 10/10. This is a low budget film which first started as a short film and grew into a feature. While the story of Impostor IMHO is superior in some ways to Minority Report and much better than typical sci-fi, the lack of money for Impostor shows.

The director, Gary Fleder is no Speilberg, Ridley Scott or even Paul Verhoeven. Sometimes the pace of the film seemed to need tighter editing. The script in the central part of the film could have used more work to learn more about this world. And the music was just ok in supporting the action and emotion of the film.

Still Miramax was right to decide on making this a feature film rather than a short subject or straight to TV film. Impostor has some great sci-fi story ideas and good performances. 8.5/10

I was surprised to see that IMDB users had rated this movie as low as they did. This movie really exemplifies the paranoia that is typical of the works of Philip K. Dick much better than the more expensive and more widely-seen "Minority Report". As much as that movie had going for it (great visuals and action, leavened by the right amount of humor), it let the viewer off the hook at the end by resolving the story with a tidy, happy, feel-good ending. "Impostor" is a much lower budget film and very grim but remains true to its Phildickian origin throughout, with the plot unfolding layer by layer until the end, which is both shocking and inevitable. It's the kind of stuff great "Twilight Zone" episodes were made of.

This movie, which time will no doubt prove to be a sleeper, was well put together. The sets look good, and with the exception of the silly looking transport ship in the beginning of the movie, the props and costumes are also well done. I'm surprised that this movie didn't do better in the theaters, given the cast - which all perform marvelously. My favorite part about this movie is the way it explores a Dick theme that Blade Runner fans will no doubt recognize: What makes us human?

This movie has gotten a bad rap mostly from folks who just didn't get it. Of all the movies based on Philip K Dick stories, this one actually is most true to the plot line. And as a fan of Philip K Dick I give this movie a lot of credit for that. He visualizes a dark, grim future world at war with aliens and the fear and confusion that comes from the impostor accusations. The movie reflects that very well. They did add some material just to make it a full length feature flick, since the original literary work is a short story. Sinise is excellent, Stowe is pretty and sensual as usual and D'Onofrio is over the top , as usual. A good cast, good photography and an interesting set design. I give the movie high marks, and recommend it especially to any fans of Philip K Dick.

I have no idea why this movie is such underrated. Yes, Gary Fleder is no Steven Spielberg or Ridley Scott. He doesn't have the excellent imagery or visual wonders of the other directors' films. But at the same time, he has been more faithful to the original short story than Scott or Spielberg could have been. He has added only one major twist which made the film rather more interesting. And one major credit of the film is that it could capture quite obviously the feel of paranoia that's been the mainstay of Philip Dick's most stories.

Gary Sinise is always pleasure to watch on screen. And in this case his performance is flawless. D'Onofrio plays the tough security officer with enough passion. Madeline Stowe is rather frigid in her role.

In short, 'Impostor' is a gripping tale with solid plot and enough substance. A must see for every genre fan, regardless of the fact that one of the greatest sci-fi writer has penned the story.